The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-05-28
THE PEOPLE OF THE NORTH.
life Among the Inhabitants OF the
Hudson's Bay Country.

life AMONG bi1O llln10lLtAltS vi LQ6
Hudson's Bay Country.
An Ottawa correspondent writes to the
bittsburg Post as follows: Those who have
lever seen life as it exists among the in
babitants of the Hudson's Bay country
ro1ld be astonished at the extent of civil
alton among a class of people generally sup
bosed to be savages, as well as at the
urful grandeur of the scenery and
$orhidding aspect of the graveyard
$oasts along the shores of that northern
bal In all the uninhabitable region
N North America there is nowhere to
be found a more bleak, desolate or
rnary waste than that between Ungava
Rav. off the coast of Labrador on the east,
$nd Fort Churchill on the west and southern
art of Hudson Bay proper. Although
title is known yet regarding this weird and
{rozen region, it has had a growth within
lbe last half century which has been some
Hing phenomenal, and having been meas
red according to its needs by the God of
nature, has gone on advancing from age to
ore. until at the present time not alone the
most fertile islands, but the extent of land
back from the coast on either side is thiclly
honuated by people who hunt and fish
Srd breed and talk and chatter even among
{he misery and restitution which life in
region of perpetual frost and snow must
u Hudson Bay itself is really an inland sea,
X tending between latitude 81 and 81
North, and longitude IT. and 95' west, and
While about 1000 miles long at its greatest
Instance, is only about 600 miles in breadth,
covering an area of over 900 square
miles. 1t is navigable only for about three
months in the year-from the middle of
June to the middle of September-and for
she remainder of the year is filled with drift
Ice. which renders navigation, even for
4 short distance, an absolute impoSsibility.
The eastern coasts of the bay are sights
ko be admired, cliffs rising in many cases to
4 height of 200 to 400 feet abruptly from
&be waters edge, and being composed of a
Racier-like substance which, being ever
Coated with eand frozen snow, shine in
khe sunlight until it is almost impossible to
look at them for any length of time. The
residents of this section are not properly
E,souimaux, but a cross between this race
Ind the French and the Indians, who have
home in for the purpose of hunting and
6shing. and finally settled down among the
natives to live as they do and share with
Them in the privations which no other life
hffords
On an avera ge, in the summer months, the
thermometer stands at about AS above.
while the temperature in the winter runs as
low as CO. below zero, and will average about
e5' below Fish are scarce, and can be
caught only in the rivers, of which on the
east there is only the Great Whale, while on
the west there is the Hayes, Nelson,
Churchill, Moore, Albany, Weeknisk, Main
bnd Abbitbbe. Seal abound in plenty, but
hre extremely shy and hard for the natives
10 get at, while porpoise and walrus are
Equally difficult to get hold of. Were it not
for the small fur-bearing animals which are
hbout the shores the poor half
breeds would stand very
good chance of perishing by hunger.
Is they can expect nothing in the way
bf favors from the Hudson Bay Company's
tores a few Of which are along the coast.
The natives live in little villages composed
pf from so to 100 rude huts. Each cornmu-
pity has its place of worship and its church
burial ground, which is consecrated by the
loravian missionaries, few of whom are
10 be found wandering from village to vii
)age, from the eastern extent of the settle
1nents down as far as Fort Churchill on the
west. These faithful, beloved men expect
no recompense for their services, and if they
did they wouldn't get it, for there is not in
all the country such a thing as money, the
only exchange being in fish, oil, or furs.
Whenever one of the tribe dies the rest of
/ his family-meaning by that the entire
|settlement- work for the day and pre-
|pare to bury him. If the settlement possesses
such thing as dinner bell, and most of
them do, the Oldest man in the village goes
about from hut to hut and rings the bell in
/ front of each until the occupants come out,
both big and little, and falling into line
march after him. When the circuit has
been made, and big and little are all col
ected, march is made for the Kirote, as it
scaled, the village church, which consists of
about an acre of ground simply inclosed by a
wall of stones near the middle of the COM
nunity. Into this little field go the entire
populace, and after chanting the virtues of
the dead for some hours, the corpse is taken
away ON skin rock and covered with ice
and snow in the common burial ground.
The rest Of the day is spent in rejoicing, and
the next day, if the deceased was married,
his better half makes another choice, and at
the end OF week if an agreement be come
to, the dead is forgotten and the no longer
sorrowing ones begin life over again.
A Vain Young Man